The present invention pertains to folding machines and more particularly to an improved apparatus for receiving and positioning a supply roll of web material in a position where it is withdrawn from the roll and advanced to the folding table of said machine.
As is well known to those conversant in the art, web material is advanced to the machine's folding table and with the supply roll being supported on a reciprocating carriage, the material is caused to be folded into a plurality of superposed layers which permit simultaneous cutting of all the layers to any desired configuration for producing articles of clothing or the like.
A well known feeder device for positioning a web supply roll in a folding machine has a hopper-like cradle arrangement that is adapted to support and rotate the roll to effect unwinding of the material therefrom without subjecting the latter to tension as it is advanced to a pair of conventional feed rollers mounted on the forward end of the movable carriage.
The means utilized for rotating and unwinding the web supply roll with known cradle arrangements includes a series of rotatably driven conveyor rollers or endless belts that are disposed so as to be aligned one with the other and which are inclined downwardly toward their adjacent ends thus defining the cradle configuration within which said roll rests.
A cradle arrangement of the type described supra is shown and described in U.S. patent application No. 171,761 filed July 24, 1980, wherein the web supply roll is caused to rotate in a rearwardly direction so that the web material being unwound therefrom will advance in a forwardly direction where it is received by and caused to pass between the conventional feed rollers. Although this type of cradle arrangement performs its intended function satisfactorily on certain types of web materials, it has been found to create troublesome conditions with web supply rolls that cannot be compactly wound as is the case with exceptionally thin plastic materials as well as knit fabric. Such materials are easily deformable and stretchable if subjected to excessive tensioning and the lack of compactness of the supply rolls creates a flattening condition of the roll when loaded onto the cradle which alters the circumference thereof. Such a condition will cause an excess accumulation of web material at the rearward side of the roll which will build up to the extent where it fails to be advanced by the conveyor forwardly of the roll to the feed rollers.
Additionally, the known types of folding machines are not provided with a means for removing and replacing those supply rolls which have only been partially exhausted. Prior to the instant invention, replacement of partially used web supply rolls was a manual operation and because of the lack of simplicity in making such replacements, it was rarely undertaken. The feeder device according to the present invention provides a means for readily changing the supply rolls as desired and is adapted to accommodate the most loosely wound rolls so that the web material is satisfactorily unwound therefrom.